


A Friend In Need

by kali_the_great



Category: Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-20
Updated: 2010-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-13 20:15:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/141335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kali_the_great/pseuds/kali_the_great
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What do you do when your help is needed, but not wanted?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Friend In Need

**Author's Note:**

  * For [effervescible](https://archiveofourown.org/users/effervescible/gifts).



Phoenix Wright looked out into the rain coming down so hard it looked like solid sheets and was sincerely glad that they had run into Detective Gumshoe at the Detention Center and hitched a ride with him. Being drenched to the bone would have just added an extra layer of misery to an already miserable day.

Maya and Pearl sat in the backseat in an uncharacteristic silence, though for two very different reasons. Maya was always quiet after a visit to see Godot, but today his fate seemed to weigh especially heavy on her. Pearl seemed unaware of the gravity of the situation, but was perceptive enough to recognize the others' need for time with their thoughts.

Even Gumshoe was tense, his mouth drawn taut into a grim line instead of displaying a friendly grin and he gripped the steering wheel far harder than was necessary. He was certainly driving more like he was participating in a police chase rather than just ferrying around the staff of Wright and Co.

–

He was never sure what Maya and Godot talked about during their monthly visits. Maya had been visiting him ever since the end of her mother's murder trial, often asking Phoenix to accompany her to the Detention Center but leaving him out in to the lobby. He highly suspected that she was summoning Mia, but he considered it none of his business if his former assistant didn't want to talk to him about it. His role, as far as he was concerned, was merely moral support, although the guard and the log book would also attest that he often took the time to visit Iris while the he waited.

So it was much to his surprise when Maya did want to talk about her last visit with the former prosecutor as she shuffled into the waiting area. “They've set a date,” she said flatly, not even looking at him.

Fortunately, his mind caught up with his mouth before he could ask her 'what date?'. She was obviously trying to keep the information from Pearl, so he merely made a non-committal noise and headed for the exit, stomach twisting unpleasantly. They had even less time than he originally thought.

Pearl was just about to run out into the downpour when the sound of thundering footsteps alerted Phoenix to Gumshoe's high-speed approach. “We know,” he told the detective before he could even speak.

A brief glimpse of disappointment for not being able to be the bearer of important news flashed across his broad features, but was immediately replaced by concern. “Is there anything I can do to help, Pal?” Gumshoe asked.

–  
Edgeworth's office was just as ostentatious as Phoenix remembered it, although a few things had changed, including a new bullet hole in the jacket displayed on the wall. He made a mental note to ask his friend about it when the business at hand was taken care of.

“It's completely outside my jurisdiction, Wright. I can't grant you access to the evidence. You will have to convince Godot to let you put in a formal appeal.” The prosecutor was correct, of course, and Phoenix knew that he would have helped if he could. But, given the circumstances, Phoenix felt it was prudent to explore every possible, even the obvious dead ends.

Edgeworth's voice broke his thoughts. “You might have an easier time convincing Godot, if someone closer to him did the talking,” he said carefully, before taking another sip of his tea and turning back to the files for his latest case.

Phoenix thought about it on the slow elevator ride to the lobby, but he didn't search out a close friend of Godot's. Thankfully for his plans, there was one person with access to the evidence room and the records who would be more amenable to helping. It's not like the good Detective could have his pay docked anymore than it already was. It wouldn't surprise him if Gumshoe owed the police department money every payday.

“I'd love to help, pal, but if they dock me again I'm going to be demoted,” Gumshoe said glumly. “Mr. Edgeworth already knows that you're looking to get in there, he'll know it was me.” The big man looked genuinely distressed at not being able to get him inside and Phoenix could fault him for not wanting to be stuck as an officer again. Not that it helped Phoenix any. “Why don't you try talking to Godot, yourself?”

–

The atmosphere at the Wright and Co. Law Officer was distinctly sullen. There was no friendly banter, no hamburger devouring, no chattering about the latest Pink Princess special. Just one depressed mystic and an equally depressed lawyer staring at the ceiling, while Pearl quietly contemplated her hands resting in her lap.

“They're going to execute Mr. Godot, aren't they?” Pearl asked quietly, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

“They're going to try, Pearly,” Maya replied gently, “But we're going to stop them.”

“It's my fault, isn't it? I shouldn't have followed the directions from my mother.” Tears were welling up in Pearl's big, brown eyes.

“The only one to blame is Dahlia,” Phoenix added, diplomatically leaving out the part about her mother also being to blame for being a psycho bent on revenge or Misty Fey being to blame for not bringing it to the attention to the police. In retrospect, it was a lot of different people’s faults, but Misty and Dahlia had already paid for it with their lives and it looked like it was going to be Godot’s turn.

None of it was cheering up Pearl, though. Clearly she did feel responsible, even if her only crimes were being too loyal to her mother and spilling some of dinner on a wall hanging. It certainly wasn’t her fault that the most of her immediate family had a tendency towards cold-blooded murder to the point of using an innocent girl for their own ends. “Can I do something to help Mr. Godot?” her shining eyes imploring.

She nodded. “But only sometimes. I like to talk to him about what Mia was like as a lawyer.”

“Do you think she knows the outcome of the murder trial?” he asked. “I know she knew about Dahlia’s execution.”

“I don’t know what he’s told her,” Maya admitted. “But I do know a way to ask her.”

\---

Most people would have felt bad after watching Mia lay into Godot, but after all the crap Phoenix had been put through, he rather enjoyed it.

“And who’s going to protect my little sister, now?” She finished with a burst of righteous fury, glowering through the protective glass.

‘What am I, chopped liver?’ Phoenix thought, but knew better than to interrupt, especially when his track record included two accusations of murder, a kidnapping and an attempted murder. It wasn’t his fault that everyone seemed to want Maya dead.

“You’re cute when you’re angry, Kitten,” Godot said with a slight smirk. Phoenix had to admire his bravado, but there was that layer of glass preventing Mia from reaching over and upending the mug of coffee over his head. He took a long sip of coffee. “But even with a reprieve, I’ll still be stuck behind bars.”

“I’m sure a former prosecutor on good behavior has a good chance of being paroled. Besides, you have the best defense lawyer available to harass the state,” Mia said, crossing her arms. “Not to mention friends in the police department and among the prosecution.”

“We’re not going to let you rot in here,” Phoenix said emphatically. “But we can’t do anything unless you let us file an appeal on your behalf.”

“You’re not going to let this all be over, will you?”

Phoenix wasn’t sure if it was really a question or just a statement, but he answered just the same. “I’m not that kind of person, and neither are you. Maya doesn’t want you to die for this, Misty wouldn’t want you to die for this and Mia obviously doesn’t want to you to die for this. There’s no sense in being a martyr if it won’t do anyone any good, so you will let us get you out of here.”

Godot muttered something into his coffee cup that sounded enough like an affirmative, but he caught Phoenix’ eye as he turned to leave. “Maybe someday you’ll be good enough to beat me without Mia,” he said offhandedly, leaving Phoenix as slack-jawed as if Godot had dumped hot coffee in his lap.

Maya just laughed. “You do have weird taste in friends, don’t you?”


End file.
